
Qass 

Book_ 



DISCOURSES 

OF 



> 



ABRAHAM LINCOLN, 



SIXTEENTH PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES. 



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BY 



THE PASTORS OF THE DIFFERENT CHURCHES, ^ 



ON 



WEDNESDAY, APRIL 19th, 1865. 



PUBLISHED BY THE CITIZEKS. 



£ambertt)iUc, N. J. : 

CLAEK PIERSON, PRINTEB, "BEACON" OFFICE. 
1865. 



DISCOURSES 

OF 

ABEAHAM LINCOLN, 

SIXTEENTH PRESIDENT OP THE UNITED STATES, 

, JtliJimJr m Jflmington, ft. |., 

BT 

THE PASTORS OF THE DIFFERENT CHURCHES, 

ON 

WEDNESDAY, APRIL 19th, 1865. 




PUBLISHED BY THE CITIZENS. 



Cambertoille, N. I. : 

CLAEK PIERSON, PRINTER, "BEACON" OFFICE. 
1865. 



A 



%^^ 



B-^ 



REV. THOMAS SWAIM, 

pastor of ti^t luptist (f ]jurci). 



^ 



DISCOUESE. 



" The beauty of Israel is slain upon thy high places. How are 
the mighty fallen ! — II Samuel. 1 : 19. 

The occasion which calls us together is of the 
most sadlj-solemn and impressive character. — 
A nation is in mourning ! — mourning for their 
honored and beloved chief, so suddenly, shock- 
ingly and n^ysteriously removed by death. Let 
all party feelings and other inferior considera- 
tions be laid aside as unworthy this sacred hour, 
that we may do honor to the illustrious dead 
and to our own citizenship by suitable expres- 
sions of sorrow. And let us fervently invoke 
the divine blessing on this day, both here and 
throughout the land, that this heavy affliction 
may be sanctified to all the nation. The foul 
deed which laid low in death our good and no- 
ble president, has no parallel in history. For 
enormity of conception and villainous execution 
it stands alone in horror, when viewed as to the 
station and character of the high mark. That 
one so good, so upright, so magnanimous, and 
so untiring in his devotion to the nation's inte- 
rests, regardless of sections or classes, should be 
made the victim of such a fiendish conspiracy, 
was a stunning blow to all loyal hearts through- 
out the land. In the strong language of a pub- 



lie journal, of well-known hostility to the admin- 
istration from the first, may be justly inferred 
the horror of this shock upon all minds. "It is 
as if a pall overhung the land, and in the sha- 
dow of it dwelled a chilled and awe-struck 
people. A brotherhood of sorrow — sorrow so 
poignant that it makes strong men weep and 
veteran soldiers shudder — has brought all class- 
es and all parties to the drear level of compan- 
ions in misfortune. Our city looks like a vast 
burial-ground, whose monuments are hung with 
the symbols of woe, and along whose avenues a 
million mourners pace silently in the solemn 
consciousness of bereavement. It is not only the 
flags flapping at half-mast in the drizzling rain, 
or the gloomy vistas of craped facades, that leave 
the impression of universal mourning, for in the 
sombre looks and thoughtful sadness of our citi- 
zens, their downcast eyes, their subdued tones, 
we find the most impressive tokens of the popu- 
lar distress. 

" And indeed it has rarely happened that a 
people have been visited with such cause for 
lamentation. Had it pleased God by disease 
or accident to take from us our chief magistrate, 
the shock would have been less. But to see 
him stricken down by the brutal rage of an as- 
sassin, murdered at the very threshold of the 
gate of peace he was about to open, abruptly 
hurled from his sphere of usefulness at the cri- 
sis of the Republic's fate, is such a misfortune, 
all that is horrible and pitiable and calamitous 
has been concentrated into one fatal moment to 
overwhelm the country with aflliction. Oh ! 



the disgrace of it, the shame of it, the peril of it, 
if ever that crime should be identified with the 
American character !" * 

If this forcible expression from the leading 
journal of the most persistent opposition to the 
administration of our late president be a fair in- 
dex of the feeling of the party represented, then 
we justly declare that a whole nation is in mourn- 
ing. And the shock will be felt by the good 
and the true in other lands. The down-trod- 
den victims of despotism in distant realms will 
heave a heavier sigh when the sad tidings 
break upon their ears. No event on this con- 
tinent has ever produced a more profound sensa- 
tion in Europe than will this hideous tragedy. 
As the champion of freedom to all classes and 
conditions of people the world over, President 
Lincoln has been enthusiastically recognized by 
the struggling masses of both continents. Truly, 
we may apply the language of the text : ''The 
beauty of Israel is slain upon thy high places. 
How are the mighty fallen !" In moral excel- 
lence of character he may be likened un^to the 
beauty of Israel — mighty in his acts and influ- 
ence, and slain upon the high places of a great 
nation. Without any sppcial regard to method 
in our discourse, let us briefly trace the course 
and character of our late president and glance at 
the opening prospects of his successor. 

The life of Abraham Lincoln has now passed 
into imperishable history. He was one of the 
truest types of our free American institutions. 



New York Daily News, April 17th, 1865. 

2 



With no hereditary nobility or privileged class- 
es, there is here no royal road to greatness as 
in other lands. The door to honorable promo- 
tion and unlimited success in every walk of 
life is left wide open to merit, as well in the 
lower as in the higher classej- ; and the worthy 
poor have oftener gained honorable distinction 
in our country than the rich. As wealth, and 
ease, and luxury, enervate natural vigor and 
take away stimulus to exertion, so poverty, when 
associated with virtue and talent, impels to lofty- 
endeavor, and necessity often becomes the joyful 
mother of successful invention, Ot very hum- 
ble parentage and of the most limited advanta- 
ges of education or society, Abraham Lincoln 
rose merely by the force of his peculiar genius 
and sterling merit — rose from a poor boy, step 
by step, from one position of trust and honor to 
another, until he reached the highest in the gift 
of the greatest nation on earth. When but a 
lad, managing the little farm of his infirm father 
with discretion, afterwards taking charge ot a 
mercantile business, and trading ventures down 
"the great river" to JNew Orleans, studying law 
and teaching school, filling different county and 
state offices with increasing popularity, after- 
wards sent to the general congress — in all these 
positions he acquitted himself with honor be- 
longing to each. 

Thus was he being gradually fitted by trials^ 
and toils, and knowledge of all classes of society 
in both sections of our country, slave and free^ 
and experience in different kinds of business, for 
a position the most difficult and hazardous, in 



the most critical period of a mighty struggle. 
Wonderfully was he fitted for this position, for 
which no one could be adapted without some 
such training and the attainment of a like 
character. Formed as to natural parts and led 
through a thorough discipline by Divine Provi- 
dence, he was obviously raised up of God and 
brought to the government for such a time as 
this. The approaching crisis of this great na- 
tion, in the muttering threats of disunion and 
civil strife on his election, he appreciated as 
w^ell, perhaps, as any one living. And when 
summoned by the voice of the people, which he 
interpreted as the voice of God ais well, to the 
high post of duty, he was not the man to hesi- 
tate or falter on account of threats or danger, 
nor could he go forward without the deepest so- 
licitude. He measured well the mighty portents 
of the tinges. As the ship in heavy seas feels 
the tremendous strain m every timber and is 
straitened in all her cordage, so did the Presi- 
dent elect realize in anticipation the possible 
perils of his position, when leaving his peaceful 
home in the west for the great metropolis, to as- 
sume the chief magistracy. In that parting ad- 
dress to his loved neighbors he reminded them 
that as the *'Father of his country," the immor- 
tal Washington, did not succeed in the Revolu- 
tionary struggle without leaning upon Divine 
Providence, so did he not expect success with- 
out like help; "therefore, my friends," said he, 
""proy Jot ywe." If ever prayers were needed for 
a country, they were then ; and if ever prayers 
for rulers were answered, they have been for him. 



It was a dark day in our history, although 
we have seen many a dark one since. No man 
ever took the inaugural oath with a more sin- 
cere desire or determined purpose to fulfill it 
with fidelity to all concerned. He knew no sec- 
tion or party in such a way as to interfere. He 
aimed to pacify the excited, and harmonize all 
by promising that each and all should have 
fair play under his administration. After ex- 
hausting all the powers of impartial statesman- 
ship, he calmly met the issue. When war was 
thrust upon him by armed traitors, and not till 
then, did he resort to force. Not until our glori- 
ous flag was shamefully fired upon, our com- 
mon property stolen, our treasury robbed, the 
public forts, arsenals, munitions, vessels, and 
everything the dastardly traitors could lay their 
hands upon, were seized as only thieves and as- 
sassins take ; not till our brave officers and sol- 
diers were shot at with deadly purpose ; not till 
outrages the most provoking and insults the 
most unendurable were heaped upon us by per- 
jured villains, did the new president resort to 
coercion. Then did he only aim to retake 
what was stolen. And what, think you, would 
our iron-hearted Jackson have been doing all 
that time. I tell you, my friends, but what you 
and all men know too well, he would have hung 
these plotters of treason as high as Haman, as 
fast as the forms of law would have allowed, 
perhaps a little faster, and all the people would 
have said, Amen ! But our mild and merciful 
president trusted in God and in the righteous- 
ness of his cause. War of defence was begun, 



which soon became of necessity a war of offence. 
In his own inimitable language: "Both par- 
ties deprecated war, but one of them would 
make war rather than let the nation survive, 
and the other would accept war rather than let 
it perish, and the war came."* 

Long and hard did our faithful chief try to 
save the Union with slavery. He honestly tried. 
But to his mind it proved of no avail. It seem- 
ed as if Heaven had a controversy with our gov- 
ernment on account of this accursed institution. 
Disasters and defeats attended our arms, and 
foreign nations regarded us as alike implicated 
in the perpetuation of what they branded our 
national sin. With a full view of the whole 
case, believinor with many others that slavery 
was the corner stone and abutment of the rebel- 
lion, as it was distinctly avowed by one of its 
highest functionaries, and after weighing the 
subject well, our God-fearing and upright Pres- 
ident decided to alter his policy, and try to save 
the Union without slavery. He gave all parties 
fair notice of his determination, and kindly coun- 
seled them beforehand to prepare for this com- 
ing change. Anything consistently with justice 
and the public welfare which he could do to help 
them save their property from pecuniary loss and 
their country from desolation, he was ready to do. 
Like a patriarch regarding the interests of all 
his household or tribe, so did " Father Abra- 
ham" look with patriarchal tenderness upon the 
wide-spread interests of his great family. His- 
tory will in her own time award him his high 

* Inaugural Address, March 4th, 1865. 



10 

meed of praise for this unparalleled impartiality 
of his character. But, according to the old clas- 
sic proverb, " whom the gods mean to destroy 
they first make mad," the traitors seemed to be 
given up to madness and blindness. Taking 
advantage of the very goodness of the presidents 
they whet their anger to a keener edge, and 
plunged with the greater desperation into the 
horrors of civil war. Making this the excuse, 
they appealed to the satellites of slavery every- 
where for sympathy and aid. Shame to old 
England and all her bright memories, that many 
among her highest in authority lent the full 
benefit of their aid and sympathy to this slave- 
mongers' rebellion. Shame to her colony on our 
border, that she harbored our enemies ; and still 
deeper shame to our own loyal states, that many of 
their people were found to sympathize warmly 
with the l3loody rebels in their deadly aim at our 
government, and raising a howl of opposition to 
this inevitable step of our executive, they labor- 
ed in every way to embarrass the war. 

Slow to begin, our firm president was not the 
man to turn back or be discouraged. Nothing 
daunted by all this array of opposition and the 
fears of faint-hearted friends, he in due course 
of time put into execution the far-famed Eman- 
cipation Proclamation. Whatever loss or dis- 
tress may have accrued thereby to the rebel 
states they can justly attribute to none but them- 
selves, to their own folly and madness, against 
theearnest and kindest remonstrance of our kind- 
hearted chief. To their posterity this abolirion 
of slavery will be one of the greatest of bless- 



ii 

ings, affording them like advantages to those so 
fully enjoyed in the free states ; and to this 
great nation in all her future history, as well as 
to the unborn millions of other lands, this grand 
march of Jreedom will prove glorious beyond 
present conception. This work of ridding the 
United States of slavery, this Herculean task 
of disposing of the great vexed question, which 
has so long perplexed our statesmen and dishon- 
ored our national councils, and perverted our 
sacred pulpits, and broken asunder the most 
fraternal ties, this mighty work, the solving suc- 
cessfully of the dark and dangerous problem, 
was the work of Abraham Lincoln. All the 
merit attaching to the human instrument be- 
longs to him. The 'proclamation of Freedom to 
Jour millions of slaves stands confessedly identi- 
fied rvith the name of Abraham Lincoln. It will 
immortalize that name long, long after all his 
enemies and decriers and their sympathizers 
have passed into their merited oblivion. The 
painting of our American artist, Carpenter, so 
faithfully portraying the first reading of that pa- 
per to the cabinet, should be engraved and hung 
on the walls of every free home in the world. — 
The results of that great movement have fully 
justified the large forecast and profound wisdom 
of our chief magistrate in making it at the time 
he did. And it is most refreshing to have, even 
at this late day, the candid testimony of his bit- 
ter and persistent opponents. One of the most 
able and inveterate of these in review of Mr. 
Lincoln's administration, acknowledges in this 
mournful juncture, *' Had Mr. Lincoln started 



12 

with his emancipation policy in 1861, his ad- 
ministration would have been wrecked by the 
moral aid which would have been given the 
south by the northern conservatives, including 
a large part of the Republican party. Had he 
refused to adopt the emancipation policy much 
beyond the autumn of 1862, the Republican party 
would have refused public support to the war, and 
the south would have gained its i?idependence. — 
He has given a signal proof of a strong and 
manly nature in the fact that although he sur- 
rounded himself with the most considerable and 
experienced statesmen of his party, none of them 
were able to take advantage of his inexperience 
and gain any conspicuous ascendency over him. 
All his chief decisions have been his own ; formed 
indeed after much anxious and broodiaor consul- 
tation, but in the final result the fruit of his own 
independent volition. He has changed or re- 
tained particular members of his cabinet, and 
endorsed or rejected particular dogmas of his 
party, with the same ultimate reliance on the de- 
cisions of his own judgment. It is this feature 
of his character which was gradually disclosed 
to the public view, together with the cautious 
and paternal cast of his disposition, that gave him 
his strong and increasing hold on the confidence 
of the masses. The loss of such a president at 
such a conjucture is an afflicting dispensation 
which bows a disappointed and stricken nation 
in sorrow more deep, sincere and universal, than 
ever before supplicated the compassion of pity- 
ing heaven."* 



New York World, April 17th, 1865. 



13 

Furthermore, with nothing to begin the war 
with, he raised up an army than which the 
world has seen no superior. Out of nothing al- 
most he has created a navy which scarcely has 
an equal in any quarter of the globe. War's 
deadly weapons of more formidable character 
science and art have never conceived. And the 
dread of this mighty people inspires all king- 
doms. With a corresponding improvement in 
all branches of national wealth and power, our 
prosperity even in a time of gigantic war, and 
our unlimited resources, astounds the effete mon- 
archies and routine commerce of the old world. 

Shall we be told that Fortune has smiled on 
us merely, or that a benignant Providence has 
favored our cause, and that after chastising 
us during our struggle for our national sins, He 
has brought us to that condition where He can 
consistently crown our arms with final and com- 
plete success ? Are our thanksgivings due first 
of all to the God of nations, and under Hin\ do 
we owe much to others associated in authority ; 
much to our brave officers and soldiers in arms, 
much to the patriotism at home, ever busy and 
generous to support our brave boys in the field ? 
Yes, my fjriends, let it stand on imperishable 
record, that, as our sanctuaries have often been 
opened at the call of our chief magistrate for 
humiliation or for thanksgiving, as events have 
required during the war, rve have and do still 
acknorvledge first of all, the divine hand in all our 
public affairs. Let the millions of boxes of aid 
to soldiers and millions of bounty money gene- 
rously paid for enlistment testify that we have 



u 

in some measure appreciated the sacrifices of 
our brave soldiers. Let the pensions and future 
donations to bereaved families and the prayers 
and sympathies v^hich will flov^ on w^hile the 
objects remain, let all this be our testimony that 
we acknowledge our debt to all. Bui under God, 
and over all other human instruments, justice must 
he done to the memory of that great and good man^ 
rvho, in divine providence, was placed over this 
great nation and who has with most signal wis- 
dom, ability, justice and humanity, administered 
our public affairs. Called to take the helm of 
the ship of state tossed by fearful storms amid 
rocks and quicksands, has he not held a steady 
hand ? Who could have done better, begirt 
with such difficulties and dangers ? What proof 
have we that any other mortal could have done 
so well ? Shall we impugn the wisdom of the 
all-wise Ruler and Arbiter of nations in the se- 
lection of such a man for the crisis? In the 
absence of such proof and in the face of such 
divine orderings, what must posterity think of 
the verdict of such self-appointed judges and 
mole-eyed partisans, who have decried our noble 
president as incompetent, forsooth ! as vulgar ! 
as tyrannical ! as weak ! In all charity let them 
hide themselves in their littleness, and " let the 
memory of the wicked rot." But what terms 
can measure the malignity of those who rejoice 
in this most foul and fiendish murder ? 

Above all such, my friends, stands the inef- 
faceable record that this great nation has by the 
ballot box endorsed his administration as no 
other has ever been before. God has honored 



15 

him as no civil ruler has ever been honored be- 
fore. And on this day is transpiring a scene 
the like of which the world has never before 
witnessed. Wide-spread throughout all these 
states from the Atlantic to the Pacific — yes, let 
it be repeated for our children's children, that 
throughout all our cities and towns and villages, 
habiliments of mourning drape deeply our sanc- 
tuaries of every name, all public buildings, 
streets and private dwellings. And never were 
such sable signs of sorrow more truly emble- 
matic of the deep grief that weighs down the 
millions of hearts, too deep indeed for utterance. 
The solemn tolling of bells, the deep booming 
of cannon, the silent processions, everywhere 
flags at half mast and heavily draped, tears 
coursing many a bronzed cheek as well as of 
maiden fair, mournful dirges, and heavy sighs, 
all bespeak one of the mightiest and one of the 
tenderest of tributes ever recorded in the annals 
of time. Rome never paid such honors to her 
dead heroes. Greece never lavished such ex- 
pressions of sorrow and regret over the remains 
of her most illustrious men. Embalmed in a 
nation's heart will rest for all time the precious 
memory of him whom we honor to day. 

Oh ! my friends, how the people have learned 
to love and hcnor the name of Abraham Lin- 
coln ! The honest hearted people can be trust- 
ed when not deceived. The sovereign people 
will come right when left to the workings of 
their own sound sense and fair feelings. And 
the poor freed men have found a father whose 
legacy of liberty to them no figures can com- 



16 

pute. No wonder that we hear of their gather- 
ing the clippings of crape from their rich neigh- 
bors and after sewing them together drape their 
humble cabins in the most unaffected sorrow, — 
Their loss is great indeed. Yes, my friends, 
and the time will soon come when our enemies 
themselves will realize that in the murder of 
Abraham Lincoln they have destroyed their 
best friend. Of all he must be mourned sooner or 
later. His virtues will be remembered while 
his faults will be forgotten. Some faults he 
had, of course, as he belonged to the race of 
human and fallible beings. But where are the 
human hyenas or vampires, who will dig them 
out of the grave to regale themselves with now ? 

The place is ho^y ground, 
Where Death holds solemn court, 
Away, discordant sound ! 
Away, unkindly thought! 
That pale and lifeless clay. 
Defenceless now doth lie. 
Let Pity have her sway ! 
And heaven-born charity ! 

Thus brief and imperfect as this memorial of 
our late beloved and lamented president must 
be, prepared as it has been on the shortest no- 
tice, yet this may suffice to recall his well- 
known course and character as a public man. 
In this capacity he is more generally known, 
and with this our public services are chiefly 
concerned. Still it must afford no small grati- 
fication to all his friends to be assured that in 
his private character, as the head of a family, 
as a friend and companion, he stood high in the 
estimation of all who enjoyed the privilege of 



17 

intimate acqaaintaiice. Perfectly upright, in- 
genuously honest, magnanimous to a fault, and 
in all the better qualities of human nature he 
had few equals, and no niperiors. More 
than all, my friends, it is interesting to know 
that he was a sincere christian. On good 
authority it is reported that he was a man 0/ 
prayer. Like the immortal Washington, he 
leaned on the Almighty arm for support, and 
cherished a simple faith in the Great Redeemer 
to whom he had given his heart. Tenderly 
trained up by pious parents, who were Kentucky 
Baptists of the good old stock, he ever inclined 
to the solid faith of his loved parents. But he 
did not become an open and decided christian 
until after the battle of Gettysburg. Standing 
on that bloody field, his heart was wrung with 
anguish at the scene of carnage there spread 
out, and the deep exercises of his soul were 
sanctified by the Holy Spirit. We fervently 
hope that this current report is true, and we 
have no reason for disbelieving it. If his pri- 
vate life corresponded with his public course, 
we must believe it, for he acknowledged God 
in every step he took. He distinctly avowed 
his dependence on the divine favor, and God 
seems to have recognized and approved of his 
course. The christian ministry he treated with 
all due respect and gravely considered their 
many counsels. In company with a hundred 
of our clergy, delegates from the Baptist Anni- 
versaries, held in Philadelphia, May, 1864, we 
waited upon the President at the White House, 
heard him respond briefly and most kindly to 



18 

the address presented him, and had the pleasure 
of a cordial shake of the hand from him. Thus 
he treated all similar delegations as the servants 
of the most High God. All honor to his name. 

His death, viewed from the human side, was a 
murder of the most aggravated character. There 
seems to have been a conspiracy, in which many 
were bound, with designs upon the lives of all 
the officers of the government. And there were 
many accessories to the assassination, before the 
fact. But how needless that there should be 
accessories after the fact. Yet in the eye of the 
divine law all who are pleased or gratified with 
this murderous deed are accessories after the 
fact. " O, my soul, come not thou into their 
secret ; unto their assembly mine honor, be not 
thou united." " Hide me from the secret coun- 
cil of the wicked, from the insurrection of the 
workers of iniquity." Viewed as a dispensa- 
tion of divine providence, which is its most im- 
portant aspect, this event seems dark and mys- 
terious. Why it was permitted when a nation 
was looking to him with the utmost confidence, 
we can learn only as Providence develops. — 
Permitted, it was, for every man is immortal till 
his work is done, or his appointed course is run. 
Often before was his life in danger, but his work 
was not then done. Now that God allowed his 
life to be taken, it is obvious that his work was 
done, and he has done a great rvorh for us. His 
part he finished, and finished well. He is safe 
to history, and will take his place among the 
most illustrious of the human race. 

Most infamously assassinated by a tool of the 



19 

rebel chiefs, was it not permitted that the diaboli- 
cal spirit of the rebellion should be displayed in 
the strongest light, that our hatred of it might 
be so intensified that we might be prepared to 
deal with it as it deserves. It was essential in 
the divine plan, seemingly, that a man of the 
gentle mould of Abraham Lincoln should be in 
power during the war, fitted to bear all things 
with patience, from enemies of every class, in 
open arms and secret disguise ; and that he 
should at the same time stand with firmness 
against all discouragements (though the people's 
heart should olten utterly fail them) and all 
temptations, flattery and threats, that he should 
feel for the poor and the oppressed, and alike 
regard the interests of opposite extremes and 
keep all classes in suflBcient harmony to carry 
the war successfully through. All this he has 
done, nay friends, doubtless as no other man on 
God's earth could have done. Wonderful man ! 
But the war being now virtually ended, and 
another and difl&cult work of reconstructing the 
dilapidated temple of justice and liberty to be 
accomplished, perhaps in the same divine plan 
it may require a man of less yielding nature 
and of sterner mould. One man can do but 
one great thing, and for one man's fame the 
glory of our illustrious deceased will be enough. 
Another must enter upon the next grand achieve- 
ment of reconstruction, and one is called who 
from personal experience and long observation 
of the growth of this great rebellion, its cause 
and course, and forecasted consequences, may be 
justly fitted to deal with treason according to its 



20 

deserts as the highest crime, and thus save the 
country from any future rebellion. Those who 
live long enough will see if this be so. 

But to those who are so deeply conscious of 
our almost irreparable loss, and who tremble for 
the jostled ark of the republic, we say listen a 
moment t^ some of the last words of that noble- 
man of nature who succeeds to the presidential 
chair, uttered after the news came of the fall of 
Richmond. 

*•' You must indulge m3 in making one single 
remark in connection with myself. A.t the time 
the traitors in the senate of the United States 
plotted against the government and entered into 
a conspiracy more foul, more execrable, and 
more odious than that of Cataline ao^ainst the 
Romans, I happened to be a member of that 
body, and as to my loyalty stood alone among 
the senators from the southern states. . I was 
then and there called upon to know what I 
would do with such traitors, and I want to repeat 
my reply here. I said if we had an Andrew 
Jackson he would hang them as high as Haman. 
But as he is no more, and sleeps in his grave in 
his own beloved state, where traitors and trea- 
son have even insulted his tomb and the very 
earth that covers his remains, humble as I am, 
when you ask me what I would do, my reply is, 
I would arrest them, I would try them, I would 
convict them, and I would hang them. All that 
I have, life, limb and property, have been put 
at the disposal of the country in this great strug- 
gle. I have been in camp, I have been in the 
field, I have been everywhere where this great 



21 

rebellion was ; I have pursued it until I believe 
I can now see its termination. Since the world 
began there never has been a rebellion of such 
gigantic proportions, so infamous in character, 
so diabolical in motive, so entirely disregardful 
of the laws of civilized war. It has introduced 
the most savage mode of warfare ever practiced 
upon the earth. One word more and I have 
done. I am in favor of leniency, but in my 
opinion evil doers should be punished. Treason 
is the highest crime known in the catalogue of 
crimes ; and for him that is guilty of it, I would 
say death is too easy a punishment. My notion 
is that treason must be made odious, that trai- 
tors must be punished and impoverished, their 
social power broken, though they must be made 
to feel the penalty of their crimes. Hence, I 
say this : the halter to influential, intelligent trai- 
tors ; but to the honest boy, to the deluded 
man, who has been deceived into the rebel ranks 
I would extend leniency. Death to the con- 
spirators, clemency to their victims, I hold, too, 
that wealthy traitors should be made to remune- 
rate those men who have suffered as a conse- 
quence of their crimes — Union men who have 
lost their property, who have been driven from 
their homes beggars and wanderers among 
strangers. We have put down these traitors in 
arms ; let us put them dorvn in larvj in public judg- 
ment, and in the morals of the rvorld.'" 

These plain and noble words have the true 
ring, and coming from such a man as Andrew 
Johnson, the Tennessee patriot, with such a 
glorious record, they fill us with confidence in 



22 

our new president. We can trust him to de il 
with traitors and their victims. 

And now, my friends, in conclusion, as the 
God of our fathers has brought us thus far 
through the Red Sea of our troubles, almost 
dry shod in comparison with our enemies. He 
will bring us safe into the promised land, while 
this worse than Pharaoh, the arch traitor and 
his hosts, will be drowned in the deep waters. 
Where now is that arch traitor and his satel- 
lites ? A fugitive from justice, a vagabond upon 
the.' earth, with a brand more infamous than 
Cain's upon his brow. His fellow conspirators 
are either slain in battle, or in exile, or in pri- 
son, or peeled and scattered ; all are more than 
ruined — branded with eternal infamy — and the 
territories of rebels are greatly desolated, while 
the loyal states are in comparative prosperity. 
Let us thank God and take courage. 

Yes, let us still trust in God, who will over- 
rule for greater good this most sad calamity 
which we mourn to-day. Let us rally round 
our new president and continue to support our 
government. Let us honor all the noble dead, 
who in prison, camp, hospital, or on the battle 
field, or elsewhere, have fallen in our behalf; 
and first of all of them our good and noble Presi- 
dent, the second father of his country, the martyr 
of Liberty, the restorer of the Republic, now no 
more among us, but embalmed in a grateful na- 
tion's tears. 



B-Y 



REV. J. L. JANEWAY 

pastor of tljt ^^resbgterian Clju«|). 



DISCOUKSE. 



I form the light and create darkness ; I make peace and create 
«vil ; I, the Lord, do all these things : — Isaiah 45 ; 7. 

Only a few years since and this nation was in 
the enjoyment of unexampled prosperity. Long 
years of peace had enabled us to develop the 
wonderous resources of the land. Riches spring- 
ing from a country great in extent, abounding 
in great wealth, a rich soil and varied climate ; 
aided by a wide stretchy commerce, carried into 
every sea and to every land, poured the wealth of 
land and sea into our lap. Living under a form of 
government well adapted not only to secure the 
happiness and welfare of the people, but also to 
bring forth their energies and strength, we had 
risen in a few years to a pitch of power and 
prosperity unexampled in the history of the 
world. We had achieved a name among the 
nations second to none, and were universally 
respected or feared. The skies were bright over 
us, no cloud appeared to obscure the sun of our 
national prosperity. The nation seemed as 
though long years of light and joy were before 
it, and a still brighter future opened to the view. 
Statesmen and political economists both united 
in presenting glowing pictures of our fu- 
ture greatness, which should far outstrip the past. 



But lo ! dark cloud vS began to appear, tlie low- 
muttering notes of the coming storm broke bod- 
ingly on the ear. Ambitious men, spoiled by 
prosperity, were heard breathing dissatisfaction 
and discontent. Secession erected its fou] form 
and raised its destructive hand to tear down the 
pillars on which our national fabric rested.- — 
State after state listened, and instead of seeking 
redress in the Union and according to the con- 
stitution, in an evil hour attempted to dissolve 
the national existence, seizing the national arm- 
ories, and banding together, they stood arrayed 
in arms against the government. A dread and 
fearful calm, portentous of the coming storm, en- 
sued, while the dark clouds gathered a thicker 
blackness. The storm broke suddenly, the trai- 
tor blow was struck, the national flag was haul- 
ed down from the beleaguered fortress by the lit- 
tie band, compelled to yield through famine and 
vastly overnumbering foes. The nation awoke 
to find itself assaulted, its life endangered, its 
capitol at the mercy of its enemies, and the 
demon of war spreading its black wings to 
sweep over the land. Dark days of gloom and 
civil strife with its varying issues ensued. A 
struggle of the most tremendous magnitude 
came upon us. During four long years the na- 
tion poured forth its treasures, and rivers of 
blood flowed. 

All are familiar with its history, its dark days 
of reverse and its bright days of victory. But 
who can tell the bitter agony of the watching 
ones at home anxiously waiting in fear and 
trembling lest the dread new^s of loved ones fall- 



en should be brought to their ears. Who can 
tell the agony of the dying ones on the battle 
field, the pain and languishing of the sick and 
wounded in hospital, who can gather up and 
group in one great whole the maimed of these 
years of war. Who can write out or utter the 
anxiety ot the nation, toiling, suffering, yet pa- 
tiently enduring all, determined, come what may, 
to maintain its national existence and unity. 

But after four years of feariul struggle, bright 
streaks of light stream up amid the darkness, 
the clouds are rifted asunder, not here and there 
but all through the sky, victory follows victory 
all over the field, till at length the last strong- 
hold yields, the capital of the foe is taken, the 
army closely pursued is compelled to surrender 
and the dark clouds are rent asunder. Tokens 
of coming peace are most gladly seen and hail- 
ed. The national heart rejoices, a frenzy of 
delight spreads over the land, illuminations and 
other evidences of the great joy are everywhere 
seen, while all through the land the people are 
preparing for a still greater demonstration of 
their joy. 

But suddenly a dark thick cloud comes over 
the scene, the electric wires flash over the land 
the dread intelligence that he who had for four 
terrible years guided the nation, and to whom 
it was looking and trusting to lead it forth by 
wise and conciliating counsels to an established 
peace, is no more; struck down in a moment by 
the fell blow of the dastardly assassin. The na- 
tion so lately exuhant mourns its loss. Univer- 
sal lamentation is on all the land ; the marks of 



natioaal woe meet us at every step. And W 
are met this day to mingle our sorrows with our 
fellow citizens, because they bear to the tomb 
the lifeless remains of the late chief magistrate. 
It is a day of darkness and gloom, and sorrow 
broods on the great heart of the nation. 

And there is good ground for it ; twice before 
the chief magistrate of the nation has been smit- 
ten down by death with his robes of office on, 
and the natioa sorrowed, but not as it sorrows 
to-day. It felt the blow, but not as it feels it to- 
day. Then it came as the ordinary visitation 
meets men by disease ; now it is the hand of the 
fell assassin strikiag him down in his full health 
and strength. It was a cold blooded murder, 
deliberately plaaned and carried out. Nothing 
relieves the terrible blackness of the crime. — 
Never before in our history has such an event 
transpired, and but seldom in the world's histo- 
ry. The manner of the President's death ap- 
pealed to the American heart; we cannot but be 
saddened, we cannot but be oppressed, we can- 
not but sympathize with each other over the na- 
tion's loss. 

And then, too, the time adds to the intensity of 
the blow. After four long years of bloody strife, 
with its varying issues, its defeats and victories, 
just as victory after victory had seemed to as- 
sure us of coming peace, and when we all hoped 
that the conciliating and kind policy of the 
President would tend to win back to their al- 
legiance our foes in a moment, at the very com- 
mencement of the course adopted, he from whom 
we hoped such things is laid low in death. We 



feel it to be a great national calamity, and how 
can we help being sad. 

Besides this, he had been tried for four years. 
The country knew him and had proved him. 
They knew his character ; that no man in the 
administration was so familiar with all the de- 
tails of the war, with all its varied features, and 
that, therefore, he of all in power, seemed best 
adapted to manage it. But now a new man 
and untried (at least in the present sphere) must 
take up the work. And what questions come 
crowding upon the oppressed national heart ? 
Will he be equal to the emergency ? Will he 
be able to master and comprehend its details J 
Will he be able so readily to enter on the work, 
and grasp it as thoroughly ? And a sad weight 
comes over us and oppresses us. We all wish 
he could have been spared, but it cannot be. — 
His voice is hushed in death ; his heart, which 
throbbed for the nation, has ceased to throb, and 
his watchful eye that scanned the political hori- 
zon, watching for the nation's well-being,is closed 
forever. He has passed away from earthly la- 
bors ; he can avail us nothing in the future. His 
memory, his example, his past labors, alone re- 
main. 

But there was that in the man which com- 
mended him to the nation, that endeared him to 
the people. His mind, clear and vigorous, strong 
and practical, enabled him to come to a clear 
apprehension of the subject before him and to 
state it clearly and simply to the public mind. 

Honest and sincere in his conduct as a states- 
man, he desired to know and do right. He 



9 

might be mistaken, for he was but a man, but his 
conclusions if wrong were the errors of the 
head, not of the heart. He desired sincerely 
the welfare of his country, and pursued it ac- 
cording to the light he had, earnestly, faithfully, 
steadfastly, according to his deliberate judg- 
ment. He could not be hurried faster than he 
thought he saw the way clear and plain before 
him. Placed in a position such as none before 
him had occupied, surrounded by all the usual 
responsibilities of the chief magistrate, and to 
these superadded a thousand fold greater ones 
caused by the rebellion, entering upon his offi- 
cial duties, at the very moment that the coun- 
try was crumbling to pieces at his feet, he 
grasped steadfastly and unfalteringly fhe reins 
of government. In his inaugural, endeavoring 
by mild and conciliating words and declarations 
to arrest the rebellion and win back the disaf- 
fected ; but firmly enunciating the fact, that 
the national flag and authority must be restored 
to all the fortresses and over all the states (I am 
stating facts,brethren, I allude not to the causes), 
slowly but surely the pledge was redeemed, for 
he died not, till the winds had caught up and 
spread out the folds of the flag on Sumpter, and 
the cradle of secession and the capital of the so-, 
called confederacy had both surrendered. And 
when he died, all the states, save one, were 
forced to feel the authority of government, and 
the path to peace was opening wide and free. 

Plain and unostentatious, free from pride, he 
was ot easy access and ready to meet his fellow 
citizens kindly and familiarly. Raised to the 



highest office in the gift of the people, he was 
not elated, but was as simple and free as the 
.lawyer of Springfield. There might seem os- 
tentation to the stranger at first sight, as he saw 
him accompanied by his body-guard, a sight 
never before seen here, but this was the sugges- 
tion of others, not his own, and his death has 
proved how well grounded their fears for his 
personal safety were. Only last evening I met 
in one of the journals an incident illustrative of 
this trait. In conversation with an artist, at that 
time employed on some national work, the con- 
versation being a familiar one, had turned on 
authors and their works. The President remark- 
ed that years before he had met a piece of fugi- 
tive poetry, the author of which he had long de- 
sired to know, but had been unable to find out. 
The piece had pleased him so much that he had 
committed it to memory. Then, half closing his 
eyes, he repeated the following beautiful lines : 

OH! WHY SHOULD THE SPIRIT OF MORTAL BE PROUD f 

Oh, why phould the spirit of mortal be proud ? 
Like a swift, fleeting meteor, a fast-flying cloud, 
A flash of the lightning, a break of the wave, 
He passeth from life to his rest in the grave. 

The leaves of the oak and the willow shall fade, 
Be scattered around and together be laid ; 
And the young and the old, and the low and the high 
Shall moulder to dust and together shall lie. 

The infant a mother attended and loved ; 
The mother that infant's affection who proved ; 
The husband that mother and infant who blessed, 
Each, all, are away to their dwellings of rest. 

The hand of the king that the sceptre hath borne ; 
The brow of the priest that the mitre hath worn ; 



10 

The eye of the sage and the heart of the brave, 
Are hidden and lost in the depths of the grave. 

The peasant, whose lot was to sow and to reap ; 
The herdsman, who climbed with his goats up the steep ; 
The beggar, who wandered in search of his bread, 
Have faded away like the grass that we tread. 

So the multitude goes, like the flower or the weed 
That withers away to let others succeed ; 
So the multitude comes, even those we behold, 
To repeat every tale that has often been told. 

For we are the same our fathers have been ; 
We see the same sights our fathers have seen — 
"We drink the same stream and view the same sun — 
And run the same course our fathers have run. 

The thoughts we are thinking our fathers would think ; 
From the death we are shrinking our fathers would shrink ; 
To the life we are clinging they also would cling : 
But it speeds for us all, Uke a bird on the wing. 

They loved, but the story we cannot unfold ; 
They scorned, but the heart of the haughty is cold ; 
They grieved, but no wail from their slumber will come ; 
They joyed, but the tongue of their gladness is dumb. 

They died, aye ! they died ; we things that are now. 
That walk on the turf that lies over their brow. 
And make in their dwellings a transient abode. 
Meet the things that they met on their pilgrir ige road. 

Yea ! hope and despondency, pleasure and pain, 
We mingle together in sunshine and rain ; ' ' 
And the smile and the tear, the song and the dirge, 
Still follow each other, like surge upon surge. 

*Ti8 the wink of an eye, 'tis the draught of a breath ! 
From the blossom of health to the paleness of death ;^ 
From the gilded saloon to the bier and the shroud — 
Oh why should the spirit of mortal be proud ? 

His manner showed that it had touched a cor- 
responding chord in his own heart. 

He was eminently kind and forgiving in his 



11 

disposition ; he was free from malice. Malign- 
ed, traduced, called by the most opprobrious 
epithets by the south ; insults of the most sting- 
ing character heaped upon him, well calculated 
to make a deep impression, yet they seemed to 
fall off from him as harmlessly as shot from an 
iron clad. He felt kindly to them in spite of 
all, and would have gladly received and par- 
doned them. No one can look at his conduct and 
fail to see this trait standino^ out in bold relief. 

But above all, he was a christian man. He rec- 
ognized God, as no one before him, for long years, 
had done ; never since the days of the Father 
of his country ; as his last inaugural, which 
some, in bad taste and less piety, have derided, 
because of this dependence on and distinct re- 
cognition of his superintending Providence over 
nations and his control of their destinies, clearly 
proves. He looked to the Redeemer as a sinner 
and professed to have found mercy through his 
merits. That he was sincere, we believe ; and 
we trust he has laid aside the labors, the toils 
and anxieties of life, for an elernal rest in heaven. 

He has ^ assed away ; we shall see him no 
more, tiU the risen dead appear before the great 
Judge. W-^ mourn his loss. The voice of par- 
ty is hushed, and the national heart throbs in 
anguish at his tomb. Darkness and gloom sit 
alike upon city, town and hamlet, for the stand- 
ard bjarer has fallen. 

What means this? Whence this terrible evil 
that has come, dashing from our hands the cup 
of joy and replacing it with sorrow ? Are we 
the sport of some evil being who delights in hu- 



12 



man woe and who has led us these four years 
long through war and gloom, and when our 
heavens were gathering brightness has brought 
over them another terrible cloud of blackness ? 
And what and when shall the end be ? 

The text meets and answers these. It telk 
us that there is but one God. He forms the 
light and creates darkness ; he makes peace and 
creates evil ; the Lord doeth all these things. — 
The good he himself actively brings to pass ; 
the evil he permits ; he allows it to be done ; 
but for wise and holy purposes ; while he 
will so control and overrule it as shall in the 
end promote and secure a higher good to those 
who mark his hand and seek his aid. He works 
in the dark mysteriously, but none the less 
wisely and kindly. "Clouds and darkness are 
round about him, but righteousness and judg- 
ment are the habitation of his throne." But 
why ? What is the reason of the blow ? I feel 
incompetent, brethren, to interpret God's provi- 
dences. I prefer humbly to watch and wait the 
end, when God himself shall make plain what is 
now so dark and mysterious. But still, I think 
there are some things which it may be God's 
design to teach us and which we may safely and 
not presumptuously infer ; and, first, it teaches 
us not to depend on the instrument. God is the 
efficient worker—man but the instrument by 
which he works ; and God is very jealous for 
his own honor and glory. He forbids us to put 
our confidence in an arm of flesh ; and may it 
not be that we have sinned here ? May there 
not have been, nay, was there not, too much re- 



13 

liarice on the chief magistrate. How many 
looked on him as necessary to this crisis, and as 
though the very salvation of the land depended 
on him. While there was undoubtedly a reli- 
ance on God and a public acknowledgment, was 
there not underlying it the feeling thatour salva- 
tion must come through the man, and thus we 
really distrusted God and gave a part of his 
glory to the instrument, and now is he not show- 
ing us by the removal that he is tied to no in- 
strument, and that he can put aside one and use 
another ? If he wills to accomplish our deliver- 
ance, he can and will do it in the way it seem- 
eth good in his sight, and will select such in- 
struments as shall show most clearly that it is of 
God. Thus he rebukes all false trust and con- 
fidence. 

Next, we may safely infer that all these things 
have come upon us because of our sins as a peo- 
ple. Time does not admit more than an allu- 
sion to this. "We can only say our sins are 
many and great as a nation, and God will hum- 
ble us first that he may exalt us afterwards. — 
He calls us to repentance ; let us heed his voice 
and turn to him that we may live as a people. 

Again, may there not have been in our re- 
joicings too much forgetfulness of the fearful 
cost paid for our victories — the blood which 
has flowed and the anguish and suffering in the 
field and at home. Oh, let us never forget, 
whilst we may and should rejoice, the fearful 
price laid down. 

Another lesson taught is, a solemn recognition 
of God's hand in the event. *' Be stil] and 



14 

know that I am God." He has done it. " Shall 
there be evil in the city and the Lord hath not 
done it !'' Not actively, but passively he has 
permitted it ; not that he approves it. No, he 
detests the crime, and even now frowns on 
the fell assassin, and though he should escape 
the judgment of man, we may feel sure he will 
not escape God's righteous judgment. 

But let us banish vengeful feelings ; let us 
leave to the law the punishment of evil doers ; 
aiding and upholding to the extent of our influ- 
ence and power him, who is God's appointed 
minister to execute vengeance, that he bear not 
the sword in vain. But mob law and violence 
are evils frauo^ht with danorer to our free insti- 
tutions and tend to anarchy and confusion. — 
Let us beware how we ever take the law in our 
own hands. We are not God's ministers unless 
lawfully appointed, and he delegates to us no 
authority to punish even the evil doer. In so 
doing, we ourselves do wrong. Let the law and 
its penalties be duly inflicted upon those who 
do evil by those who are appointed to do so. 

Another lesson taught us is to sustain the 
present chief magistrate. By God's own act he 
is invested with the robes of office. Uphold his 
hand, cheer his heart, give him your earnest 
prayers ; pray that God may guide, enlighten 
and bless him. Many are all wrong here. — • 
They differ in policy and views from the admin- 
istration that may be in power (I speak now of 
the general principle), but is he any the less the 
ruler ; is our country any the less dearer ; is its 
good any the less in' God's hand? It has always 



15 

seemed to me, the opposition party, if they sin- 
cerely believe the policy injurious, ought to 
pray the more earnestly. And how can any man 
who prays at all, answer it to his God, if he neg- 
lects to pray for rulers, when He has commanded 
us to pray for them. " I exhort, therefore, that 
first of all, supplications, prayers, intercessions 
and giving of thanks, be made for all men ; for 
kings and for all that are in authority ; that we 
may lead a quiet and peaceable life in all godli- 
ness and honesty, for this is good and accepta- 
ble in the sight of God our Saviour. '^ 

Lastly, let me urge you one and all to repress 
and keep down that fell demon of evil to our in- 
stitutions, party spirit. That all men should 
think alike is too much to expect. That there 
will be differences of opinion in reference to 
matters of policy we may expect. Nor is this 
an evil, nor is this party spirit. But a determina- 
tion to oppose all measures proposed, to see no 
good in them and misrepresent them because 
they originate with the other party, is surely an 
evil, especially attended, as they are, with a 
misrepresentation of the motives leading to the 
policy ; — this fierce denunciation of men and 
motives because we dilTer in politics, accusing 
those whom we meet and trust and respect in 
the ordinary affairs of life, of the most base and 
unworthy conduct in politics, because they do 
not and cannot see as we do. The voice of par- 
ty is now hushed and men of all parties unite 
in paying honor to and lamenting the dead. — 
Is not God rebuking this fell spirit of evil. Oh 
when shall it cease ! oh when shall our differ- 

10 



16 



ences in matters of policy, instead of alienating 
ns, only make nsmore zealous to do our country 
and each other good ! 

And now may God bless and sanctify to us 
as a people these visitations of his hand. Amen. 



IB^^ 



REV. J. P. DAILEY, 

fastor of % PttJoiiisI d^pistflpal C|nrt| 



DISCOUESE. 



No words are required to explaia the object 
cjf this meeting to-day. The signs of mourning 
here and over all the land express the sense of 
deep sorrow that lies heavy on the nation's 
heart. Nor can the use of emphatic words and 
impressive figures deepen the impression of the 
sad calamity with which the nation is stricken. 
Yet it may be reasonably expected that the pas- 
tor of this church, as a minister of the gospel 
and as an American citizen, should be willing 
to say something to his fellow citizens for bis 
country and for his God. We are quite willing 
to make some very plain remarks, leaving the 
eulogy and the poetry befitting the occasion to 
minds more gifted and to tongues more eloquent. 

Abraham Lincoln, sixteenth President of the 
United States, was born July 12th, 1809, and 
died April 15th, 1865. Physically, he was a 
man capable of very great endurance, as his al- 
most uninterrupted good health during four 
years of immense labor, under the pressure of 
prodigious responsibilities, fully proves. His 
most striking mental characteristic was great 
common sense. That was the sheet anchor of 
his practical character. He always seemed to 
know when to speak and when to act, as well 



11 



as when not to speak and not to act. Those who 
listened for words of mere sentiment or looked 
for actions of mere show from Abraham Lincoln, 
were simply disappointed. No ruler in any age 
of the world ever had such great difficulties to 
solve and to manage as had President Lincoln. 
But his common sense always seemed to be 
equal to the occasion. The counterpart of this 
characteristic was the power of judging correct- 
ly. Clear in its profundity and eminent in de- 
gree was the judgment of that great man. Pru- 
dence was another characteristic, and like the 
others named, was strikingly permanent and 
practical. Blunders or mistakes in action were 
very rare with Mr. Lincoln. Any of these that 
may have appeared in his public life, of the 
forms of omissions or tardiness, were doubtless 
caused by the crude and ponderous, but pow- 
erful, influences of the age, bearing on a charac- 
ter more thoughtful than impulsive. The con- 
troling elements of his moral character were 
honesty^ kindness , patience and patriotism. All 
these are important elements in the character of 
every good citizen, and essential elements in the 
character of a christian. 

As a politician he exhibited great coolness and 
honesty of purpose, in a policy of great simplici- 
ty. In the memorable contest with Mr. Doug- 
las for the senatorship of Illinois, it w^as shown 
that those two great men were nearly equal in 
the confidence of the people of that state. Mr, 
Douglas carried a majority of the counties and 
secured the senatorship. Mr. Lincoln had a 
small majority of the popular vote. Again, in 



1860, those same men were before the people of 
Illinois as rival candidates for the presidency. 
The result then showed the more enduring influ- 
ence of Mr. Lincoln. He carried the state by a 
majority of 11,946 over Mr. Douglas and 4,629 
over all opposition. It required a strong spirit, 
a clear eye and a steady hand to break a lance 
with Mr. Douglas ; and he who could fairly win 
in such a contest, need fear no other champion 
in the political arena. 

The statesmanship of Mr. Lincoln was 
brought out under the most trying circumstan- 
ces, yet he always seemed to measure the diffi- 
culties of his situation with a careful and steady 
hand. As President of the United States, he 
was the most democratic of all our Presidents. 
His policy was the most simple and clear, ever 
developed in any administration. No one of 
the illustrious line of noble men who have filled 
the presidential chair, ever cared so much for 
the humbler classes of the people, or opened his 
heart or explained his policy so much to the 
people, as did President Lincoln. No one of 
them ever had half the difficulties to contend 
with in his administration. The great questions 
of Slavery J of State rights, and of Secession, which 
other Presidents had managed to evade or to 
compromise, had to he met by President Lincoln. 

Before he was sworn in as President of the 
Union, seven States had sworn themselves out 
of the Union, and their traitorous statesmen, 
after failing to secure the consent of President 
Buchanan to their nefarious scheme, were now 
testing their powers of peerless chivalry and of 



superlative statesmanship, in a grand double 
effort on the one hand to befog northern politi- 
cians and the new President into an acknowl- 
edgment of their maudlin doctrine of State 
rights, and on the other hand, to starve Major 
Anderson and his ninety men into submission 
or out of Sumpter. Yet Mr. Lincoln, noble and 
generous man that he was, rejoiced that as yet, 
there was ''nobody hurt," and in his inaugural 
address told the whole people, and those traitors, 
too, that there could be no war unless they be- 
gan it. But the day of compromises had gone 
by ; and within one month and ten days, to fire 
the Southern heart, they fired on Sumpter, and 
fired the whole American heart. Then the 
war cloud shot forth its lightnings, and its thun- 
ders rolled over the world. The President had 
to grasp the helm and guide the Ship of State 
through the fiery tempest of four terrible years. 
Whenever you shall have read a true history of 
these years of war, you will have a history of 
the statesmanship of President Lincoln. I pass 
no eulogy nor make comment on it now ; 
the time for that is not now. But we may 
notice some two or three great facts involved in 
that history, which must be studied now. 

1. Four years ago, many of the greatest states- 
men in Europe and many equally great in our 
country, pronounced the attempt to put down 
the rebellion by force of arms, " a piece of mad- 
ness." Who is so mad as to hold that opinion now? 

2. Then slavery was the giant difficulty, that 
some hved, some hated, but all feared. Who 
fears it now ? 



3. After being subjected to four years of se- 
verest trial, Mr. Lincoln was elected for a sec- 
ond term of four years service at the helm of 
state. Who regrets that now ? 

These are some of our opinions of Abraham 
Lincoln, as an honest man, a great statesman, 
and a good president. But we will give the 
opinion of others. A body of citizens met a few 
evenings since and passed the following resolu- 
tion: 

Resolved, That believing Abraham Liucohi as a ruler to have 
been governed by patriotic motives, honesty of purpose, and an ele- 
vated appreciation of the grave and responsible duties imposed up- 
on him in the greatest crisis of our country's history, conunandiug 
in so great a degree the confidence of the loyal people of the nation, 
and exhibiting in the recent events which had culminated in the 
downfall of the rebellion, a wise, forbearing and magnanimous 
statesmanship, the exercise of which gave such promise of a speedy 
and perfect restoration of the National Union, and the spirit and on 
the principles upon which it was founded, we cannot but regard his 
Bad and untimely decease as a great misfortune to the nation at this 
critical period. 

Now where and by whom do you suppose 
this resolution was passed ? It was passed by a 
committee of intelligent and powerful politicians 
who, less than one year ago, in strong and stir- 
ring language, intended for the whole American 
people, denounced Mr. Lincoln as one of the 
worst of tyrants and his administration as a 
piece of the worst kind of despotism. It was 
passed in Tammany Hall, by the general com- 
mittee, with not one dissenting voice. Who 
will now doubt the honesty of President Lin- 
coln or pronounce his administration a failure? 

But the great and good President Lincoln is 
dead. He died from being shot in the head, 
while sitting with his wife and a friend or two, 

12 



rn a theatre in the city of "Washington, last Fri- 
day night. I am sorry he went to that theatre. 
Afterbeing wounded, he lingered insensible un- 
til twenty-two ininutes past seven o'clock oa 
Saturday morning, when he died. His death 
was by a cowardly and diabolical assassination. 
The act of shooting down that quiet, unsuspect^ 
ing man, in the presence of his wife, was one of 
cold blooded and murderous brutality. The 
author of this horrid crime is one of the vilest of 
reprobate men ; one of the most miserable be- 
ings out of hell. The name or fate of this crimi- 
nal is not of the greatest importance ; still, I 
would have him arrested, tried, and when proven 
guilty, made to suffer death. Yet, even for him^ 
would I deprecate all mob violence ; I would 
not have him suffer one minute of unnecessary 
torture, as he was, doubtless, the tool of an in- 
fernal plot. Let him be put out of the way and 
let him go to his own place ; let foul vapors and 
darkness envelop his grave, and let the ghosts 
of silence be the only sentinels of his memory. 
But when we come to speak of the responsibili- 
ty of this crime, we touch the most delicate and 
fearful part of the whole matter. That he who 
fired the pistol is directly responsible, no one 
may doubt. But the question of indirect re- 
sponsibility, though it may be a delicate one to 
speak of, is nevertheless one of awful magni- 
tude. God alone may be able to fix the shades 
and degrees of this responsibility, notwithstand- 
ing we cannot, at our peril we cannot, ignore 
the subject. It must be studied now. The habit 
of speaking evil of political opponents, and es- 



.pecially of those in authority, though wide 
spread and of long standing, is the poison source 
of many of the bitter streams that reach all 
classes and all parties of our people, spreading 
blasting and mildew over all our social, politi- 
cal and moral interests. 

Many of us remember the time when Andrew 
Jackson and Henry Clay were rival candidates 
for the presidency ; how each was represented 
by his opponents as a deadly enemy to liberty^ 
morality and religion. Many of the people be- 
lieved those representations, and were induced 
to hate the name of Jackson, or of Clay, as long 
as they lived. Yet we have lived to hear the 
same Jackson politicians tell us that Henry Clay 
.was a grand old patriot, and the same Clay poli- 
ticians wish they only had another Jackson.— 
This folly might be passed with a smile did we 
not know there is sin against God in it, and did 
we not see the same deadly spirit still at work, 
which after eulogizing Jackson and Clay, pro- 
ceeds to traduce other men as good as they were, 
just as heartily and just as bitterly as they were 
traduced. This loose spirit would naturally 
prevail most where there was the least amount 
ot general intelligence, and where there were 
other vices and sins to harmonize with it. A 
man who could feel that it was no sin to deprive 
a race of men of their liberty and to keep them 
in perpetual bondage, (without any fault of 
their own,) would not be likely to see much 
wrong in depriving other men of their good 
name and subjecting them to perpetual odium. 
Thus the thing has grown up to ripeness for 



10 

treason and a willingness to shed blood to grati- 
fy the feelings it had engendered. 

The murder of President Lincoln was part of 
a plot to murder others at the same time, and 
that plot was but counterpart to another plot, in 
the conspiracy to hurn^ roh and murder in our 
northern cities and our northern frontier. Beale 
and Kennedy were in concord of spirit with the 
assassins of the President and of Mr. Seward. — 
And this latter plot was but part of the pro- 
gramme in the satanic enterprise of treason, for 
the success of the rebellion and the death of the 
Union. The war appeared to be nearly ended. 
Terms of surrender strangely magnanimous and 
liberal to a fault had been accorded to the main 
army of rebels. Joy was overall the land — 
But the culminating crime of treason has turn- 
ed a nation's joy to grief We are in the house 
of God to ask his blessing, while we reflect upon 
the lesson to be taken from this solemn event. 
Seeing in this rtzult of treason the awful nature 
of that crime, " Let every soul be subject unto 
the higher powers, for there is no power but of 
God ; the powers that be are ordained of God. 
Whosoever, therefore, resisteth the power, resis- 
teth the ordinance of God*, and they that resist 
shall receive to themselves damnation. For ru- 
lers are not a terror to good works but to the 
evil.'' Let us stand rebuked for our political 
follies ; repent of them, and henceforth by God's 
help " abstain from all appearance of evil." Let 
us remember that " the Lord reigneth," that his 
wisdom, power and goodness sustain the na- 
tion, and President Lincoln was only his min- 



11 

ister to us for good. Let us pray more for our 
rulers, giving no place to the folly that dares to 
neglect this duty, for fear of exciting that other 
folly that dares object to prayer for God's bless- 
ing upon our rulers. Let us be more honest in 
our politics, more charitable, more prayerful. — 
Let us abandon every line of policy that re- 
quires us to assent to, or to compromise, or be 
partakers of other men's sins, no matter how- 
great in political influence, how deep in worldly 
interest, or how congenial to pride and ambition 
those sins may be. In trying to correct the errors 
of opinion or practice among our fellow citizens, 
let us do all in the spirit of that charity which 
'* sufFereth long and is kind, that envieth not, 
vaunteth not itself, is not puffed up, doth not 
behave itself unseemly, seeketh not her own, is 
not easily provoked, thinketh no evil, rejoiceth 
not in iniquity, but rejoiceth in the truth." As 
we are all heirs of a good government from our 
** Father in Heaven,'' let us be alike faithful to 
that government. Every true American is both 
a Republican and a Democrat. A Republican 
who is not a Democrat, or a Democrat who is 
not a Republican, is only in part a true citizen. 
It takes at least two such men to make a full 
toned American citizen. Republicanism de- 
scribes the principles of our government. De- 
mocracy describes the application of those prin- 
ciples. There is no radical opposition of prin- 
ciple between them ; there should be none in 
practice. They should be cherished in harmo- 
ny by all citizens. They will always work in 
harmony while we remain faithful to God and 

13 



12 

true to the government which he gave to our 
fathers and to their children. 

Let us thank God that this calamity did not 
fall on the nation in more perilous times ; that 
President Lincoln's eyes v^ere not darkened by 
death until he had seen the flag of the Union 
waving at Richmond ; nor until he had been 
able to proclaim to foreign powers that vessels 
of the United States navy must no longer be 
subject to regulations degrading them to a level 
with rebel pirates. 

Let us thank God that the sun which rose on 
the morning that Lincoln died had not reached 
the noon, before the nation had another Presi- 
dent, duly invested with all his authority, sur- 
rounded by the same staff of patriotic intelli- 
gence, and backed by a national determination, 
more deep and firm than ever, to sustain the ex- 
ecutive and maintain the Union. 

Let us be thankful for institutions that do not 
die when Presidents die, but live while treason 
plots and rebellion rages, in spite of assassination 
itself Regarding these institutions as given 
unto us by God, and seeing how in his good- 
ness he continues them to us through such 
threatening calamities, should we not love them 
more than ever and be willing to make sacrifice 
in order to transmit them an unimpaired but 
improved heritage to our children ? Let us try 
to come to a clear and elevated appreciation of 
that great truth that ought to be the fundamen- 
tal principle of all statesmanship, that " right- 
eousness exalteth a nation while sin is a re- 
proach to any people," that no policy, or plat- 



13 

form, or set of political principles, can take the 
place of Bible truth, or work so simply and so 
surely in the exaltation of a nation. 

Finally, my friends, in what words can I 
more appropriately close these remarks than in 
the words of him to whom we pay these mourn- 
ful rites of respect to-day. 

** With malice toward none, with charity for 
all, with firmness in the right, as God gives us 
to see the right, let us strive on to finish the 
work we are in, to bind up the nation's wounds, 
to care for him who shall have borne the battle 
and for his widow and his orphans, to do all 
which may achieve and cherish a just and last- 
ing peace among ourselves and with all nations." 



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